Man in Space (1955)

Directed by

Ward Kimball

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

51 min

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 18 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1950s Disney documentary short mixes animation and live-action to explore the history of rockets and what space travel might be like. Scientists and a narrator explain the challenges humans would face in space like weightlessness and space sickness.

educationallightheartedwhimsicalinformativehopefulplayfulscientificretro

What happens

"Man in Space" is an episode of the American television series Disneyland which originally aired March 9, 1955 on ABC. It was directed by Disney animator Ward Kimball. This Disneyland episode (set in Tomorrowland), was narrated partly by Kimball and also by such scientists Willy Ley, Heinz Haber, and Wernher von Braun, as well as Dick Tufeld of Lost in Space fame. The show begins with a brief, lighthearted history of rockets, then presents discussions of satellites, a practical look (through humorous animation) at what humans will have to face in space (both physically and psychologically, such as momentum, weightlessness, radiation, even space sickness) and an imaginary view of a rocket's takeoff into space. The next episodes in this series were "Man and the Moon" and "Mars and Beyond", airing in seasons 2 and 4, respectively. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Eyes in Outer Space (1959)
• Man and the Moon (1955)
• Moon Rockets (1947)
• Man Alive! (1952)
• World of Kids (1951)
• Switzerland (1955)
• Mysteries of the Deep (1959)
• 3D Jamboree (1956)